There's nothing revolutionary or evolutionary (or even particularly mold-breaking) about this candy-colored, cel-shaded high-fantasy adventure role-playing game, yet Dragon Quest VIII is one of the best things the PS2 has going for it -- proof-made-code that the heart and soul of an engrossing adventure game can still be found in loving attention to environment, character, story and detail.

It's easy for a big, wide-horizoned adventure game of any kind to rapidly collapse under the weight of its own repetition, and fantasy games in particular have a way of degenerating into seemingly endless rounds of suspiciously-generic dungeon crawls separated by virtual wastelands of boredom. That said, a huge part of Dragon Quest VIII's ability to draw players in for upwards of a hundred hours of gameplay or more (seriously) is the sheer variety present in its game-world of the aforementioned, wide-horizoned bigness; each dungeon, quest and town has its own distinct feel, from the grandest, majesty-in-ruin kingdom to the homiest, grungiest thief-hovel.

The 3D models (derived from Japanese manga artist Toriyama Akira's 2D work) supply half the vibrant sense of life to the characters, while the other half comes from the game's surplus of spirited, (mostly-) good voice-acting. Truth be told, even the few instances of ghastly voice-acting have a certain B-movie charm.

The game's sprawling, exploratory overworld is likewise hewn with a convincing, organic mindset. The winding forests, sudden desert wastes, snaking inlets and terraced townships feel like real places, worthy of your time and attention -- secret treasures and tucked-away little game-goodies abound for the curious. There are also secondary pursuits and diversions (collect special monsters for service in your combat-monster teams, functioning casinos, quests for rare medallions and a streamlined, design-your-own-items alchemy system) and even an optional challenge that continues beyond the ostensible "conclusion" of the overarching adventure.

Best of all, Dragon Quest VIII expertly straddles that snaky, "geek" line -- on the opposing sides of which are the hard-core RPG enthusiasts and the casual gamers who'd like to dip their trepidacious toes into the fantasy-adventure pool.

It's true that the larger game-world is, overall, a tad emptier than it might have been, and that the staple/affliction of 'random battles' is in full bloom here, but quibbles aside, Dragon Quest VIII is a darn-near ideal fusion of balanced battles, dorky depth, fascinating fantasy and endearing endeavor; if you have the time, there's a new world here, ready and willing to replace your own for a long, long time.